American Journal of Environmental Sciences 8 (3): 322-327, 2012
ISSN 1553-345X
© 2012 Science Publications
Removing Boron from an Aqueous Solution
Using Turmeric Extract-Aided Coagulation-Flocculation
1
Azhar Abdul Halim, 1Nur Hanani Thaldiri,
2
Normah Awang and 1Mohd Talib Latif
1
School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences,
Faculty of Science and Technology,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
2
Environmental Health Program, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Abstract: Problem statement: Boron exists in an environment naturally either through weathering of
rocks or volcanic activity but due to anthropogenic activity, boron had been distributed widely into our
surroundings. Boron was a problematic pollutant due to the difficulty to remove it from the water.
Turmeric which had been widely used as a spice and traditional medicine, were investigated to
determine its capabilities to aid in coagulation-flocculation process to remove boron. Optimizing
coagulation-flocculation process might be effective to remove boron to a lower concentration.
Approach: In this study, the optimum parameter for pH, dose of aluminium sulfate (alum) and a dose
of turmeric extract were determined by conducting a set of jar test experiment. The coagulationflocculation process was performed to study the effectiveness of the turmeric extract as a coagulant aid
in boron removal. Results: The result demonstrated that coagulation-flocculation process with the aid
of turmeric extract can remove boron effectively at optimum conditions rather than coagulationflocculation process without the aid of turmeric extract. The optimum conditions for boron removal
were achieved at pH 7, an alum dosage of 18, 367 mg L−1 and turmeric extract dosage of 82 mg L−1.
Conclusion/Recommendations: Result showed that removal of boron depends on pH, alum dosage
and turmeric extract dosage. The boron removal percentage of the aqueous solution using the
coagulation-flocculation process aided by the addition of turmeric extract and without the addition of
turmeric extract were 95 and 62%, respectively. In addition, there was a significance difference
between both processes. Turmeric extract as a coagulant aid demonstrated promising performance in
boron removal and can be used as an alternative treatment to treat boron-containing wastewater.
Key words: Turmeric extract, coagulation-flocculation, boron removal
various industries (Coughlin, 1998; Howe, 1998). Boron
had been used widely in various industries such as metal
welding, pharmaceutical manufacture (Ozturk and
Kavak, 2005), ceramic industry (Chong et al., 2009),
burning wood fuel and glass products manufacture
(Emiroglu et al., 2010). The concentration of boron in
soil and irrigation water is normally low, however boron
rapidly accumulates in soil irrigated with wastewater
containing boron because of the difficulty of washing the
residue out of the soil (Yilmaz et al., 2007).
Boron is an essential nutrient for plant growth but
in relatively low concentration (Kabay et al., 2008). A
boron deficiency in plants will result in reduced
absorption of potassium, chloride and rubidium;
alteration of the plasmalemma of root cells and
INTRODUCTION
Boron is widely distributed into our surroundings
from various sources. The first element of the group IIIA
on the periodic table of elements, boron is a metalloid,
while the rest of the elements in group IIIA are metals.
Boron does not form binary Ionic compounds and is
unreactive toward both oxygen gas and water (Col and
Col, 2003). Boron can be found in sedimentary rocks,
coal, shale and some soils in the form of borates and it
also exists in the environment through the rock
weathering, volatilization of boric acid from seawater
and volcanic eruption (Emiroglu et al., 2010). It also can
enter the environment via the discharge of wastewater
containing boron from anthropogenic sources and
Corresponding Author:
Azhar Abdul Halim, School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
322
Am. J. Environ. Sci., 8 (3): 322-327, 2012
Turmeric had been applied in traditional medicine
to treat jaundice and liver problem, ulcers, skin
problem, cold and flu symptoms. Turmeric also can act
as an antimicrobial in food preservation. The effect of
the presence of Curcuma longa powder in Tamarindus
indica and Garcinia atroviridis solutions was indicated
by the decreasing of aluminium solubility in food
preparation was reported (Halim et al., 2011a).
Adsorption studies of aluminium on Curcuma longa
also was carried out by Halim et al. (2011b).
Turmeric was prepared from the rhizomes of the
Curcuma longa, a plant that belongs to the
Zingiberaceae family (Jayaprakasha et al., 2005).
Curcumin (diferuloylmethane) is an active principle of
the perennial Curcuma longa herb and is the major
component in turmeric. The yellow pigment of the
turmeric contains curcuminoids and consists of three
major constituents: Curcumin I (curcumin), Curcumin
II
(demethoxycurcumin)
and
Curcumin
III
(bisdemethoxycurcumin) (Goel et al., 2008). Curcumin
is an acid-base indicator where at pH 2.5-7.0, a brilliant
yellow hue will appear while a red hue will appear at
pH>7.0 (Goel et al., 2008). Rosocyanine which is a redcolored compound will form when curcumin reacts
with boric acid (Akram et al., 2010). In acidic
solutions, a 2:1 curcumin-acid boric complex will form.
Curcumin also can be classified as a chelating agent
due to the present of 1,3-diketone structure. The aim of
this study is to investigate the feasibility of removing
boron from an aqueous solution by the alum
coagulation-flocculation process, aided by the addition
of curcuma longa extract.
cessation of root growth. Lack of boron also caused
abnormalities of the apical meristem, which may be a
secondary effect of damage to the plant’s vascular
tissue (Woods, 1994). As a plant nutrient, boron can
form ester borates which are important for building the
cell wall structure of certain plants (Camacho-Cristobal
et al., 2008). However, the boron-poisoning will occur
when the amount of boron absorbed exceeds the
nutritional concentration that the plant needs; a
yellowish spot will appear on the leaves and the fruit of
boron-poisoned plant. Drinking water containing boron
is suspected to be teratogenic to human health. The
concentration of boron in the drinking water that
recommended by the World Health Organization
(WHO) should be below 0.3 mg boron /L (Cengeloglu
et al., 2007; 2008). Later, this standard was amended to
0.5 mg/L due to the difficulty encountered in achieving
the lower standard in regions with high natural levels of
boron. Lately, boron had been classified as a pollutant
by European Union (EU) and 1 mg boron/L had been
adopted as a standard for drinking water. Therefore, it
is inevitable to devise a suitable method to remove as
much boron as possible from the water.
Physiochemical and biological treatments have been
used widely to remove boron from wastewater. There are
several physicochemical treatment, include using ionexchange (Simonnot et al., 2000), adsorption (Alias et
al., 2011), reverse osmosis (Nadav, 1999), membrane
filtration (Mottez et al., 1998), electrodialysis (Kabay et
al., 2008) and electrocoagulation (Yazicigil and Oztekin,
2006; Yilmaz et al., 2005; 2008). Biological treatment
options include using aquatic plants such as Caulerpa
Racemosa var. Cylindracea (CRC) (Bursali et al., 2009)
and duckweed Lemna gibba (Marin and Oron, 2007).
Another method commonly used to treat wastewater
is a coagulation-flocculation process that involves adding
a coagulant such as aluminum sulfate (alum), ferric
chloride or Poly-Aluminum-Chloride (PAC). This
process has been found to be cost effective, less energy is
needed and can be operated easily (Amuda and Alade,
2006). Coagulation acts by destabilizing the boron
particle’s charges. Coagulants are added to neutralize the
negative charges on the colloid. Once the charge is
neutralized, the small particles stick together and form
microflocs which are not visible to the naked eyes.
Meanwhile, flocculation will increase the size of the
microflocs to form a visible floc that settles out at the end
of the process. The problem with this process is that can
be influenced by the nature of the water, temperature,
pH, types and dose of the coagulant used, intensity and
duration of the rapid mixed (Rossini et al., 1999).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The boric acid solution (50 mg L−1) and alum
(100,000 mg L−1) was prepared. The turmeric extract
was prepared from fresh turmeric. Sodium hydroxide
(NaOH) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) were added to
the solution to adjust the pH. The Carmine method,
adapted from the Standard Methods for the
Examination of Water and Wastewater (Eaton and
Franson, 2005) was used to determine the actual
concentration of boron between the detection limits of
0.2-14.0 mg L−1. Optimum parameters such as the pH
of the mixture, the dose of alum and the dose of
turmeric extract were determined in order to maximize
the coagulation-flocculation process.
A jar test was performed with 1 min of the rapid
mix at 80 rpm, 30 min of slow mix at 20 rpm and 30
min of settling period. The data were collected and the
test
was
repeated
three
times.
Optimum pH: The range of pH that was chosen for this
study ranged from 6.0 - 11.0. Six beakers (n = 6) with 400
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Am. J. Environ. Sci., 8 (3): 322-327, 2012
mL of boron solution were prepared. 90 mL of alum
solution was added to each beaker. In the coagulationflocculation process aided by turmeric extract, 5 mL of
turmeric extract was added to each beaker. After a 30 min
settling period, the final concentration of boron from each
beaker will be determined.
The effect of the pH: The optimum pH of the
coagulation-flocculation process with and without the
aid of the turmeric extract was pH 7 and pH 10,
respectively. The result demonstrated that percentage of
boron removed was 88% for pH 7 (with turmeric
extract added) and 63% for pH 10 (without the addition
of turmeric), as shown in Fig. 1.
The optimum dose of alum: A jar test was performed
by varying the dose of alum within a range from 50-100
mL. Six beakers (n = 6) with 400 mL of a pH 7 boron
solution were prepared. In the coagulation-flocculation
process with the aid of turmeric extract, 5 mL of
turmeric extract was added in each beaker. After a 30
min settling period, the final concentration of boron
from each beaker will be determined.
The effect of the dose of alum: Optimum dose of alum
to remove boron using the coagulation-flocculation
process with and without the aid of turmeric extract was
18 367 mg L−1; the percentage of boron removed was
76 and 73%, respectively, as shown in Fig. 2.
The effect of the dose of turmeric extract: The
optimum dose of turmeric extract obtained from
coagulation-flocculation process to remove boron was
82 mg L−1, where the percentage of boron removed was
80%, as shown in Fig. 3.
The optimum dose of turmeric extract: Six
beakers (n = 6) with 400 mL of boron solution were
prepared. The turmeric extract that was added to
each beaker ranged from 2-12 mL. The pH of the
boron solution was adjusted to achieve pH 7 and then
90 mL of alum was added to each beaker. After a 30
min settling period, the final concentration of boron
from each beaker will be determined.
Comparison between the coagulation-flocculation
process with and without the aids of turmeric
extract: By applying the optimum parameters that had
been obtained in this studied (pH 7, 18,367 mg L−1
dose of alum and 82 mg L−1 dose of turmeric extract),
we had compared the boron removal between
coagulation-flocculation process with and without the
addition of turmeric extract. The result had
demonstrated as stated in the Table 1.
RESULTS
Table 1: The comparison between results from the coagulationflocculation process with and without the assistance of
turmeric extract
The percentage of boron removed and the optimum
parameters of coagulation-flocculation process with and
without the aid of turmeric extract have been compared
in this study.
Mean of percentage of
boron removed
Optimum parameters:
pH
Dose of alum
Dose of turmeric extract
With the addition of
turmeric extract
95%
Without the addition
of turmeric extract
62%
pH 7
18,367 mg L−1
82 mg L−1
pH 7
18,367 mgL−1
-
Fig. 2: Effect of the size of the dose of alum on the
effectiveness of removing boron
Fig. 1: Effect of pH on the effectiveness of removing
boron
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Am. J. Environ. Sci., 8 (3): 322-327, 2012
Fig. 4: Structure of
(rosocyanine)
Fig. 3: Effect of the size of the dose of turmeric extract
on the effectiveness of removing boron
the
curcumin-boron
complex
In this studied, there was a slightly different in the
percentage of boron removal which might due to the
addition of the turmeric extract in the process.
DISCUSSION
The percentage of boron removed and the optimum
parameters of coagulation-flocculation process with and
without the aid of turmeric extract had been compared
and discussed in this study.
Effect of the dose of turmeric extract: In this study,
turmeric extract was used as an aid to the coagulant. By
enhancing the agglomeration of the particle to form a
larger and heavier floc, the turmeric extract increased the
percentage of boron removed. Curcumin, which is one of
the constituents in turmeric, can react with the boron in
the solution to form a curcumin-boron complex that is
known as rosocyanine, as shown in the Fig. 4.
The effect of the pH: The pH level is one of the
important factors that affect the performance of the
coagulation-flocculation process (Ayguna and Yilmaz,
2010) since it controls the hydrolysis species
(Camacho-Cristobal et al., 2008). However, different
coagulants will have different zones of pH where the
coagulant will become more effective in removing the
colloidal particle and producing a good coagulationflocculation process. For an example, alum will become
more effective when the solution falls within the pH
range from 6.5-7.5.
Comparison between the coagulation-flocculation
process with and without the aids of turmeric
extract: Comparison of the coagulation-flocculation
process with and without the aid of turmeric extract had
been studied and by using statistical analysis where an
independent T-test had been applied, the result showed
that the p value was less than 0.05 (p<0.05). Thus, there
was a significant difference between the coagulationflocculation process with and without the aid of
turmeric extract, where the percentage of boron
removed was 95 and 62%, respectively (as shown in
Table 1). The coagulation-flocculation process with the
aid of the turmeric extract removed the highest
percentage of boron, due to the production of the
curcumin-boron complex that known as rosocyanine,
thus increasing the removal of boron.
The effect of the dose of alum: Aluminum-based and
ferric-based hydrolyzing metal salts are widely used as
coagulants in the treatment of water (Gregory and
Duan, 2001). In this study, alum was added to the
water and formed aluminum hydroxide floc, a
gelatinous precipitate. By adding alum to the
solution, positively charged aluminum hydroxide
formed and neutralized the negative charges of the
particles in the solution, thus reducing the
electrostatic force between particles. When the
electrostatic force was reduced, the particles
agglomerated and formed a larger floc that was
easily removed from water.
CONCLUSION
Optimum parameter determined in this study was
pH 7, the dose of alum at 18,367 mg L−1 and dose of
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Am. J. Environ. Sci., 8 (3): 322-327, 2012
turmeric extract at 82 mg L−1. The coagulationflocculation process, aided by the addition of turmeric
extract, removed a higher percentage of boron than the
coagulation-flocculation process without the addition of
turmeric extract. The mean of the percentages of boron
removed were 95 and 62%, respectively.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The researcher is grateful to the National
University of Malaysia for providing sufficient facilities
and funding while the research was being carried out.
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